


way down on your line

by thesaddestboner



Series: thesinbin fills [1]
Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Angst, Carolina Hurricanes, Florida Panthers, Gen, M/M, Melodrama, One-Sided Attraction, Unrequited Crush, mention of family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-11
Updated: 2015-07-11
Packaged: 2018-04-08 17:48:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4314594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesaddestboner/pseuds/thesaddestboner
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Maybe this time Eddie will come first, for once.</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	way down on your line

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [this prompt](http://thesinbin.dreamwidth.org/1580.html?thread=2105388) at [](http://thesinbin.dreamwidth.org/profile)[**thesinbin**](http://thesinbin.dreamwidth.org/).
> 
> This is kind of melodramatic, sorry. I've been watching a lot of soap operas lately. And it's from Eddie's POV, not Roberto's. 
> 
> Title from "Waiting in Vain," by Bob Marley just because. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> You can find me on [twitter](http://twitter.com/thesaddestboner) and [tumblr](http://saddestboner.tumblr.com).

Eddie’s so excited he literally can’t stop bouncing in his seat, like a kid all hyped up on sugar or caffeine. He hasn’t seen Lu in months and, but for an occasional text here and there, they haven’t really kept in touch. Lu’s got a wife and kids, and Eddie’s always accepted that they come first, but…maybe this time it’ll be different. Maybe this time Eddie will come first, for once. 

_Lu_ reached out this time, not the other way around. Lu had actually _called_ Eddie, had a real honest to God conversation with him rather as opposed to a brusque one-line text. 

Lu had wanted to meet up with Eddie in Miami, of all places! He wanted to have coffee and catch up. Eddie can hardly believe his luck.

There’s something a little bit thrilling about meeting Lu in broad daylight, where anyone could see them, recognize them. They’ll look like nothing more than old friends.

Eddie’s sitting at the front of the coffee shop, by the door with its jangling bells. Whenever someone comes in, the bells chime and Eddie’s heart leaps into his throat and he holds his breath, wanting it to be Lu. It never is, though. This time when the bells chime, it’s a harried-looking mother toting a small, squalling child under one arm. Eddie settles back in his seat and cups his rapidly cooling coffee in his hands.

The mother drags the child over to the counter to place her order. Eddie eavesdrops; she orders a _Mocha Frappuccino Light_ and a cranberry muffin. The child doesn’t stop wailing until the mother shoves the muffin in his dirty chubby hands. 

The bells chime again and Eddie looks up, heart leaping from his throat to his eyes this time. Lu spots him and comes over, dragging a heavy hand through messy black curls. He looks completely exhausted, though it’s only midday. Eddie figures he must not have had a good night’s sleep. 

“I missed you,” is flying out of Eddie’s mouth before he can even think to reel the words back in. 

They sound too tender, too familiar even to Eddie’s ears. Maybe he should have waited until Lu sat down before he opened his mouth. Lu is still standing there, one hand on the back of the chair, looking at Eddie with heavy eyes. His wedding ring glistens and Eddie’s fingers itch to yank it off and throw it at the howling child and his stupid cranberry muffin

“Hi,” Lu says, slumping heavily in his seat. “We…we need to talk.”

“I figured,” Eddie says. He tries not to sound too eager, tries to tone down his excitement at finally having Lu back in his orbit. His entire body aches with relief. “It’s been too long.”

“I know… That’s kind of why I’m here,” Lu says. He isn’t quite looking at Eddie, eyes firmly planted on something just beyond Eddie’s shoulder. 

“Yes?” Eddie reaches out tentatively for his hand. Lu jerks away, tucks his hands in his lap.

“You’ve got to stop this, Eddie,” he says finally, barely above a whisper. He sounds battle-weary. 

“What do you mean?” Eddie asks, pulling his hands back and wrapping them around his coffee cup.

“You know I like you. A lot,” Lu says. He’s speaking slowly now, over enunciating like Eddie’s a child. He tries not to let that burrow under his skin, but it does anyway. “You’ve been a good friend… But that’s as far as it goes for me.”

Eddie squeezes his cup and drops his eyes. He can’t look at Lu anymore. “I don’t understand.”

“You’re a nice guy. I do like you,” Lu continues, stilted and awkward. “And I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong idea. I just don’t—“

“Don’t,” Eddie says, holding up his hands.

Lu rubs his temple and squeezes his eyes shut for a moment. “Eddie, you’ve got to hear this. You’ve got to accept—”

“No. You can’t just do this,” Eddie says. “You can’t just ruin everything.”

“Ruin what?” Lu asks, dropping his hands to the table with a heavy thud.

“Us,” Eddie says. 

“There’s nothing to ruin,” he says, eyes going cold and distant. “I don’t know what you convinced yourself of, but whatever you thought was going on between us… It never was.”

“Then—then why’d you let me think there was?” Eddie sounds pathetic now, like a stupid, _pathetic_ child. “Why’d you let me think I had a chance?”

Lu groans and sits back in his seat, running his hands over his face. “I played along, I knew what I was doing, and it was shitty of me, Eddie. I’m sorry.”

Eddie stares at the top of his coffee cup. He wants to say something—anything—but his throat tightens and his eyes prickle. He’s not going to cry. It would be stupid of him to cry. Especially in public. How humiliating that would be. Wasting tears on someone who doesn’t care about him. Someone who strung him along for whatever reason.

Eddie looks at Lu then; he looks back, guilty and small. 

“Why’d you do it then?” Eddie asks, surprised by the hostility in his voice. He hadn’t known he was capable of sounding so cold and hard. “Were you and Gina going through a dry spell? You think you’d fuck with me, make a fool of me? Did you and Gina have a laugh behind my back?”

Lu flinches, but Eddie can’t even feel good about that. He’s never used Gina or the kids as a weapon before, and he feels badly. He feels like he’s crossed some invisible boundary, like he’s passed the point of no return.

“Don’t you dare throw Gina in my face,” Lu says, shoving his chair away from the table. “I set up this meeting as a courtesy to you. I thought you deserved to hear this from me, in person.”

Eddie jumps up too. Anger sparks in his veins, setting him aflame. Suddenly, he wants to burn everything in his path now, even Lu. Especially Lu.

“You’re such an asshole. You knew what you were doing. You used how I felt about you to feel better about yourself,” Eddie says, voice just a little too loud. Lu looks around frantically, like he’s afraid someone might overhear, but no one's paying them any mind. “And now you’re using how I feel against _me_.”

“How exactly am I doing that?” 

“Bringing me here! Throwing my feelings for you in my face,” Eddie says, turning and grabbing for the jacket that’s hanging off the back of his chair. He whirls back around to glare at Lu. “You could have just asked to meet in private. Saved me the public humiliation.”

Lu reaches out, grabs Eddie’s jacket sleeve. Eddie jerks his arm away. “Look, I’m sorry if you feel like I humiliated you, but I—I don’t feel comfortable around you anymore, Eddie. You’ve taken this too far.”

“Oh, fuck you. I don’t know what you thought I’d do, but fuck you.”

“I thought you’d make a scene. Which you’re doing right now,” Lu says. Eddie turns to hurry out of the coffee shop but Lu grabs his arm again. “I really am sorry, but this needs to stop.”

Eddie refuses to meet his eyes. Instead, he stares at that kid. He’s sitting with his mother in a corner booth, licking the crumbs off the muffin wrapper. 

“I just wanna know why you’re doing this,” Eddie says, still staring at that mother and child.

“We need to—to lay down some boundaries,” Lu says, letting go of Eddie’s arm and stepping back. “If we’re gonna be friends, lines need to be drawn.”

Eddie still refuses to look Lu in the eyes. “I can’t do that. I can’t be your friend and keep my feelings inside.”

“Then I guess there’s nothing more to discuss,” Lu says. 

Eddie’s heart clenches in his chest. Lu sounds sad. Where does he get off sounding so _sad_? _Eddie’s_ the one who just got his heart smashed to pieces.

“Okay then. I guess not.” Eddie glances at Lu. He looks how Eddie feels, shoulders slumping, mouth drawn in a thin line. Eddie's stomach turns. “Have a nice life.”

Lu flinches again and opens his mouth, but Eddie’s already brushing past him for the door. 

-

_You are blocked from following @EddieLack and reading @EddieLack’s tweets. Learn more_

**Author's Note:**

> The author of this piece intends no insult, slander, or copyright infringement, and is not profiting from this work. This story is a complete work of fiction and does not necessarily reflect on the nature of the individuals featured. This is for entertainment purposes only. If you found this story while Googling your name or the names of your friends, hit the back button now.


End file.
